My mom is in the fight of her life.
A cancer diagnosis is devastating. There are just no other words for it and the only option you have is to fight the disease. You stop the normal life that you are living and you go into survival mode. Everything around you changes and you look at life differently and your normal stops being normal. My oncologist told me to take one step forward keep walking and don’t look back. This is exactly what I have done for the last 8 years.
On March 2023 I went to the ER for dizziness and I had an MRI done. The cancer has metastasized to my brain in the right internal capsule to the right thalamus. It is very deep and not able to be surgically removed without the possibility of neurological damage. I have had 5 treatments of Cyberknife SRT in May of 2023. I had another MRI on July of 2023 and it showed the tumor did decrease in size from a 8.3 x 8.1 mm to a 4.0 x 3.1 mm. In October 2023 another MRI showed the tumor had increased to a 6 x 4 mm and again another MRI January of 2024 showed the tumor had increased to 6-7mm.
My physician has now referred me to another facility outside of our area for a specialized MRI that will measure cerebral blood volume (rCBV) on dynamic susceptibility weighted MRI to see how much is tumor growth and possibly radionecrosis. It is my hope and prayer that this will bring positive results. I am unsure of the treatment if this tumor is still growing but I will give an update after the MRI the end of February. Please keep me in your prayers!!
Below is my journey.
On October 2016 My physician was not able to get a blood pressure or a pulse in my left arm. I was scheduled for a CT Angiogram. I received a phone call a couple of hours later and the news that I received was the beginning of a long journey.
My physician told me that they had found a mass on my lung during the procedure and I was diagnosed with Adenocarcinoma Lung Cancer. I was also diagnosed with Subclavin Steel Syndrome that same day where as the subclavian artery steals reverse-flow blood from the vertebrobasilar artery resulting in vertebrobasilar insufficiency. This condition then caused me to have no blood pressure or pulse in my left arm. Your blood flows in reverse from your brain.
November 2016 I had a right lower lobectomy with lymph node dissection. On January 2017 I received 3 of 4 cycles of chemotherapy for which I did not tolerate well. On February 2017 I had cardiac surgery to place a cardiac stent in my left subclavian artery to restore normal blood flow. In 2022 I had cardiac surgery to replace the cardiac stent again in the left subclavian artery due to a blockage.
On September 2017 I had an MRI done and a tumor was discovered on my left scapula. A biopsy showed metastatic adenocarcinoma consistent with lung primary. I received 17 rounds of SBRT.
On June 2018 I had a Pet Scan and a tumor was found on my left eight rib for which I also received 12 rounds of SBRT. On July of 2018 a tumor was discovered on my spine and I also received SBRT for this as well.
I worked in the Health Care System for 10 years but am currently not able to work. I have had a total of 19 Pet Scans and am scheduled to continue them every 4 months. MRI’s I also have every 3 months for the tumor on my brain currently I have had a total of 9 MRI’s.
God has walked with me through this difficult time in my life and has kept me strong. I am so grateful and blessed to have the care and loving support of my family they have helped me stay positive and keep fighting this disease. I have also had the kindness and care of my physicians and staff who have been wonderful also.
Due to the cancer metastasizing in my brain and in other parts of my body the Pet Scans and MRI’s are life saving tests that I need to have done to have the cancer identified at an early stage to be able to treat and cure the cancer. The financial burden of my medical bills are increasing and will increase further as well as our other financial obligations that we need to take care. Your donations are 100% tax deductible.
Please know any donation large or small can make a difference and ease the financial burden that I have right now. Thank you again for your generosity and kindness! Your donations and prayers are appreciated!! May God bless all of you!